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Campers pleading for peace in Toco

I read an article in the Express on Tuesday titled "CDA bans camping for Carnival...", which prompted me to write concerning camping on the Toco/Salybia Beach, also mentioned in the article.

While I fully agree with Councillor Terry Rondon that Toco is a popular camping destination, it is now becoming unsafe. My family and I have been camping on the Toco Beach (our tent already erected for Carnival 2013) for the past 15 years, and I have seen it evolved from just a handful of campers having a quiet weekend of rest and relaxation to being a sea of campers, some promiscuous and so noisy, you can't hear yourself talk without shouting (no exaggerating). Not all of us campers come to the beach to break the law.

For the past five to six years, this weekend of relaxation has turned into a noisy nightmare. Inconsiderate people (campers and non-campers) come with vehicles (five to ten or more) loaded with amplifiers and countless speakers, spread themselves throughout the beach and conduct "sound-off" competitions in the wee hours of the morning (from 1 a.m. till), as well as during the day. I am sure they are playing their music way past the legal decibel level/limit.

I am asking you, Mr Rondon, and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA) to try to rectify this problem because now that the CDA has banned camping, these campers will be coming to Toco for sure.

Please put some solution in place, otherwise the Toco/Salybia Beach might experience the same fate as Chaguaramas. The beach is for everyone to have a fair share of enjoyment.